Meta's dedicated Election Operations Center identifies and responds to potential threats during SA's election period.
Facebook owner Meta has established an Election Resource Center as part of a multi-pronged approach to supporting the integrity of the 2024 South African elections across its online platforms.
The company said in a statement that its online resource center will provide government, political and nonprofit partners with information on how best to protect their accounts and reach and engage voters with trusted information.
It also serves as a reminder of what politicians should consider when planning their campaigns on Facebook, Messenger, Threads and Instagram before, during and after the 2024 South African General Election. We provide information to help you understand what is allowed and prohibited on Meta's platform.
South Africans will go to the polls on May 29 to elect the leaders of the country's seventh government in what is expected to be the most competitive election in 30 years.
Meta has developed an approach to elections around the world on its platform over the years, and says no two elections are the same. The team has therefore developed an approach tailored to South Africa's elections, drawing on lessons learned from past local elections and Mehta's involvement in over 200 elections around the world.
“Over the past eight years, we have deployed election and political advertising transparency tools, developed comprehensive policies to prevent election interference and voter fraud, and developed third-party support to combat misinformation. We have built a fact-checking program,” explains Balkissa Ide Sid. , Director of Sub-Saharan Africa Public Policy at Mehta.
“In preparation for the elections, Meta has signed a voluntary cooperation framework to combat disinformation in South Africa's 2024 national and local elections. and other industry partners to reduce risks associated with elections. ”
The social media giant, which has more than 3 billion users, has faced backlash over the past few years from government leaders and the public for being used as a tool to spread fake news, propaganda and terrorist activities.
Last year, the company, along with other platforms, appeared before Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications (PPCC) to consult policymakers on election preparations.
Building on this, Meta launched a series of sessions for the PPCC earlier this year to better understand how the PPCC keeps civil servants and public bodies safe and secure online.
As part of its efforts to strengthen collaboration with third-party organizations, Meta is working with fact-checking partner Africa Check to train IEC staff to better spot misinformation. said.
Additionally, in partnership with IEC and Media Monitoring Africa, we are training over 160 government communicators on Meta's approach to combating misinformation and the various safety and security features available on the platform.
We will be implementing a number of training initiatives in collaboration with civil society organizations to support the safety of marginalized communities online, including raising awareness of safety tools in collaboration with the South African Human Rights Commission and The Other Foundation is.
“Meta has launched a dedicated election operations center aimed at identifying and addressing potential threats in real-time. Additionally, we have partnered with national fact-checking networks and We can fact-check in many local South African languages, including IsiZulu, Sesotho and Setswana,” Ide Sid added.
Meanwhile, the IEC said it was intensifying its digitalization efforts to prevent fake news, fraud and fraud during the election period.
To empower local users in the run-up to elections, Meta continues its long-term partnership with Digify Africa, which develops digital literacy tools such as Lesedi WhatsApp chat service and Kitso, which teach digital literacy skills to students. He said there was. Train teachers on internet safety.
Both tools use WhatsApp to teach digital skills in a data-lite conversational format, making education more accessible, it said.
“These initiatives complement the Ilizwe Lam Internet Safety Skills Project, which we have been supporting since 2018. Through this project, we are encouraging children aged 13 to 18 to explore the internet. , to educate, inform and empower you with the right tools and information to protect yourself online.”
Meta is currently running a campaign against hate speech and misinformation on its platform and local radio.
